


I see trouble on the way

by flightinflame



Series: Project Cerberus [3]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Priest is a bad man, Project Blackwing (Dirk Gently), Siblings, Team as Family, Werewolf Todd Brotzman, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-05-30 02:34:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15087122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: The universe has a message for Friedkin to deliver. Unfortunately, the full moon and a car accident stop things going to plan, and he ends up in a cell in Bergsberg. Help is on its way - but so is Blackwing.





	1. Cops and Rabbits

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Lourdesdeath for all of their betaing help, and TnC for several of the best lines and ongoing support.  
> Title from Bad Moon Rising - the theme song of American Werewolf in London

It turned out that Ken was like, a total asshole. He'd taken control of Blackwing, when really he was meant to be helpful, but no, he'd decided to take charge and he had pushed Friedkin through a portal. And Friedkin felt kind of pissed about that. Especially because he'd apparently recovered from being stabbed by a giant pair of scissors (seriously, what even was with that) only to find the universe wanted him to find people and tell them things.

And of course the universe had told him a lot of stuff. Like, all the stuff. It was hard to keep that straight in his head, to work out what was important and what he didn't need to act on, and he was afraid he was going to mess things up and somehow break the universe, because he was always the kind of person who messed up and he hated it. He hated how stupid he was.

And now, the universe wanted him to take a message to the Brotzman girl. Who he had last seen when he'd held her at gunpoint, so he was pretty damn sure she was going to hate him. And if she hated him, her boyfriends probably would - they'd certainly not been great when they'd been his prisoners. Martin had tried to feed on him and that had sucked. Like, massively sucked. Like, apparently they fed on like, thoughts and shit, and he wanted to hold onto those, but Martin was an asshole. Possibly more of an asshole than Ken was. Or at least, he was approaching that level of utter dickishness.

So he had to get a message to the Brotzman girl without either running into Ken, or getting eaten by Martin, and he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to do that. He sighed, stretching out limbs in all directions before concentrating on forming into a human shape. He remembered that at least.

He fell, and landed in a field, where the sun was setting. There was a spooky old house at one side, with a barn, and there was a rabbit sitting on the grass in front of him. Cursing the fact that he had been ditched at night - how was he going to find them now? And anyway he was pretty sure Martin and the rest of Incubus were like, actual vampires, and he didn't want to lose his blood - he sat down on the steps of the spooky house, hoping that there wasn't some monster in there.

The darkness fell quickly out in the countryside, and he wondered where in the world he was. The stars sparkled silently above him, quiet. It was like the universe in the sky where he was now, only it wasn't quite like that because these stars didn't whisper to him. And then, the moon rose.

The rabbit had come back. It was about the length of a football field away, washing its face with one paw. He tilted his head, watching it curiously, and heard a thumping from inside the house. He jumped up, and the noise stopped. Freaked out by the thumping, he ran towards the rabbit, and as he approached it it looked up and squeaked.

He bounded after it, hungry now, chasing it through the undergrowth, sliding beneath tree roots, the message he had to deliver slipping from his mind for a moment as he focused on catching the rabbit.

He ran onto the road, the asphalt hard and sharp beneath his feet, and he'd been wearing shoes. He glanced down, and saw that his hands like… weren't his hands? They were big and his fingers were shorter and had sharp claws. He twisted, and saw that his feet were the same. He stared, trying to work it out, not noticing as the rabbit slipped away from him. He sat down, trying to look at his hands and feet, and that thumping noise started up again. He twisted around, and saw that there was something fluffy in the corner of his vision. He tried to chase it, but it slipped out of his reach before he could grab it, and seemed to follow him as he ran. He continued trying to grab it, running in large looping circles.

He was so busy trying to catch the fluff that he didn't register the sudden bright lights until too late.

Something slammed into the side of him, and he howled in pain as he was sent tumbling across the road.

He lay there panting, trying to catch his breath, his chest aching as he whimpered.

He heard a car door open, and someone approached, smelling of trees and smoke and shaving cream. He whimpered again as he heard them speak.  
"Tina, I just hit a dog, I'm gonna need some help here, it's hurt pretty bad."

He tried to speak, but the car hitting him had clearly like, scrambled his brain, because he couldn't talk, only let out soft whimpering noises. The man shushed him, wrapping his coat around him.  
"You're gonna be okay boy."

Friedkin knew the last person he'd trusted was Ken, who turned out to be an asshole. He still found he kind of trusted this guy.

***

Hobbs stared in horror at the large dog which he had hit with the car. He'd been dealing with minor traffic infringements, and just heading back home when this dog had run out in front of him. He'd slammed on the brakes, but it hadn't been fast enough. 

He clambered out of the car, buzzing on his radio to speak to Tina.  
"Tina, I just hit a dog, I'm gonna need some help here, it's hurt pretty bad."  
"Oh fuck," Tina answered. "I'm going to come and get you."  
He listed off his location as he approached the dog, a little startled to see just how large the creature was now that he was closer.  
"You're gonna be okay boy," he promised, reaching down and stroking his fingers through the fur, flinching when his hand touched the damp heat of blood. He took off his jacket, laying it over the creature, and checked for a collar. There wasn't one.

He shone his torch at the creature, and it hissed back from the light. It was big, and it looked half-wild, if he hadn't known better he would have said that it was a wolf. Regardless, it was injured, and the cells back at the station were free. They could get it back, take it inside and make it comfortable, and call a vet out in the morning. Tina was good for feeding Mustard when he had to work late. He continued to pat the dog, murmuring to it softly until Tina's car approached.

"Holy fuck that's a big dog," Tina muttered as she parked. "It... you sure it's not a wolf?"  
"There've been no wolves in Montana since the thirties. And anyway, wolves know to move out of the way..." Hobbs sighed, carefully manoeuvring the creature into the back of his pickup truck with Tina's help. "It's probably someone's escaped pet, poor guy..." There was an awful lot of blood on the ground there, and he felt sick. "We'll get you home..." Tina climbed back into her car, and the two of them headed to the station, where he ushered the beast through to the cells. It could walk, but was limping badly and seemed to be unsure how to balance on its feet.

"Tina, could you let Farah know about this guy? It'd be a lot to ask, but if we can't find where he's from maybe Dirk can do a holistic?"  
"You think Dirk would want to-?"  
"He said his favourite cases are the non-killy ones where he gets to help people," Hobbs reasoned with a fond smile. "And it'd be good to see him again."  
"Thanks." Tina grinned at him, grateful for an excuse to message Farah. She grabbed her phone, then blushed a little at the way Hobbs was smiling at her knowingly.

"You okay to feed Mustard tonight? I better stay here with this guy..." He paused. "What do you think I should call him?"  
"I dunno," Tina shrugged from the doorway. "Dog maybe?"  
"I can't call him Dog Tina," Hobbs reasoned. "What about Pepper?"

The dog, Pepper, wagged his tail in response so Hobbs smiled, going to find some food. He had a few cans of cat food in the station. It wasn't dog food, but he was pretty sure that Pepper couldn't read. He poured them out onto a plate, and carried it into the cell, Pepper following eagerly. He sat down beside him, pulling blankets off the bed to make a nest. The bleeding wasn't so bad now, he'd clearly been overestimating how injured the dog was on the road. That helped. The dog's eyes were kind of weird looking he thought, redder than he would have expected with large pupils. But that was probably the shock of the accident.

He carefully locked the dog in the cage, then went to the office to do some paperwork, leaving the door open so that he could see Pepper while he worked.  
"I'll get you a vet first thing in the morning boy," he promised, already mentally calculating how much money he could spare to pay vet bills. He'd caused this, he would fix it.

He fell asleep over his paperwork, when he could see that Pepper was asleep as well, his legs running in the air as he dreamed of chasing rabbits or whatever it was that dogs dreamed about.

***

"Uh, excuse me?" a very nervous sounding, male voice echoed out from the cells, and Hobbs pulled himself to his feet, trying to remember what had happened this time. It didn't sound like Scott Boreton. He glanced down, shocked to see that his uniform was smeared with blood. He headed to the cells, drawing his gun to be safe, and nearly dropped it at what was facing him.

A very naked man was sat in the cell opposite the doorway, a blanket pooled around his waist. He looked nervous and as Hobbs got closer, he saw that the man's eyes were red. At that he frowned slightly, remembering the dog from the previous night. 

"Hey," Hobbs greeted him. "I'm Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs, and... I'm pretty sure you were a dog last night."  
"I don't... I don't like...remember? But I think... Did you hit me with your car?!" the stranger asked, sounding offended.  
"Uh. I... it was an accident," Hobbs attempted to defend himself, relieved when he heard Tina's car pull up outside. "Tina? In here?"

She ran through, and almost crashed into him, mouth still half-full of her breakfast pop-tart.  
"That... is that-"  
"I think we'd better tell Farah and Dirk that we need them now," Hobbs murmured, and slowly Tina nodded, continuing to stare at the man.


	2. Joker in the Pack

A month ago, or more precisely four weeks ago, Todd had found out his boyfriend was a werewolf, and he'd been a little shocked. Not _very_ shocked, considering the kind of thing that he and Dirk dealt with on a daily basis, but still a bit shocked. Dirk had locked himself away in a cage, and tried to hide it, until Todd had managed to catch him and shown him that rather than the monster he believed he was, he was actually pretty good as a wolf - they'd gone to the park, and he'd allowed Dirk to cuddle up to him, and Dirk had been calmer.

This month, it had been different. Dirk had been tense as he waited for the full moon, but Todd had known what was coming, had been able to talk to him about what was happening and put plans in place that weren't Dirk hiding in a cage provided by Mona while his body changed.

Last night, it had been as close to perfect as things got for Todd. Dirk had been calm as the shift approached, only occasionally asking if Todd was sure about this. Then, when he had shifted, he'd been affectionate almost immediately, and when Todd had suggested they go to the park he'd been quick to head to the door. They'd spent some time playing fetch, with Mona serving as the ball, before she'd once again returned to being a collar for Dirk and the three of them headed home, crashing out on the bed with Dirk lying across Todd's legs and cuddling him close. Todd had stroked the soft fur of Dirk's head until he'd fallen asleep, and realised that he was actually looking forwards to next month. It was rare to see Dirk so relaxed, so free and unafraid.

Dirk had asked to be allowed to sleep in that morning, and Todd was more than happy to indulge him, patting Dirk's hair and making sure that he was comfortable. Eventually, Dirk woke up, and ate his bacon sandwiches, nuzzling at Todd's side. Todd allowed the affection without complaint, just happy to see Dirk so utterly comfortable with himself and with the world.

The two of them headed downstairs to the office around ten, Dirk sipping his tea and nuzzling into Todd's shoulder. Todd tolerated it, smiling at Farah when he found that she was already hard at work in the office. Farah looked at the two of them, frowning a little.  
"Dirk, Hobbs thinks he's got a case for you."   
Dirk grinned, walking over to her desk.

"Apparently he hit a dog with his car last night, and this morning he found it was a man."  
"The car or the dog?" Dirk asked, and Todd rubbed his forehead a little, wondering if Dirk was deliberately obtuse or just tired after shifting.  
"The dog," Farah answered. 

Dirk went slightly pale, his hands clenching at his sides and his eyes growing wide. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.  
"He say anything about the man?"  
"Young, seems confused, but then he got hit by a car so-"

The relief that flooded Dirk was as obvious as the terror it replaced, and Todd resolved to ask about it later. 

Dirk hesitated.  
"Alright, I'll take the case, but... Farah, I need you to know-"  
Todd moved closer, resting his hand supportively on Dirk's side.  
Dirk took a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes for a moment and whispering his secret.  
"I'm a werewolf."

Farah laughed slightly, looking up at them and nodding.  
"That's a relief."  
"What... what do you mean?" Dirk sputtered indignantly.   
"Well, if you weren't, I would have to have a serious conversation with the two of you about appropriate workplace behaviour."  
"I'm just... feeling a bit fuzzy and tired still after-"  
Farah shook her head, and gestured towards her throat. Dirk reached up, face turning a bright red. Todd felt his own expression become flustered, as he saw that Dirk still had Mona about his throat. Dirk coughed slightly, and in an instant Mona moved from his throat to become a rainbow coloured bracelet around his wrist. 

Todd hugged Dirk, who was still flushing a vivid tomato red. Farah cleared her throat, and pulled out her phone.  
"You think you can talk to Hobbs?"  
Dirk swallowed, and reached for the phone.  
"Hey Hobbs, ... I've encountered werewolves before, ... hold him in the cell, don't let him out... give him food, he'll be hungry, burgers or something, high in protein if you can... we'll be over as soon as you can. We'll be a couple of days at most-" Farah opened her mouth to complain, and Dirk stopped her by shaking his head and mouthing 'we have to'. "Thank you." He hung up, and turned to Todd, shaking slightly and blinking back his tears.  
"Farah, please, if there's a werewolf there we have to go there immediately. I have to find out how this happened, and help him-"

Farah hesitated, taking another slow breath and reaching out for his hand.  
"Okay. I'll sort out a few things, see if we can rearrange some appointments. How long do you want?"  
"Maybe a week," Dirk said softly, sounding a little desperate. Farah nodded, and Dirk headed off to grab some bags for them. He paused in the doorway.  
"Todd?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you contact Amanda? Let her know... let her know what's going on, see if she's in the area? The Rowdies might get there before we do."  
Todd nodded, pulling out his phone, and trying to work out how on earth he was going to hold this conversation. He started with a simple text.   
_Amanda, are you having a good week?_

***

Amanda yawned, stretching out and grabbing her phone off the floor of the van when it beeped at her. Seeing it was a message from Todd, she allowed herself to ignore it for a few moments, leaning back against Gripps' chest. Vogel rolled over, reaching for her phone and she held it out of his reach.  
"You know the rules," she reminded him, and he snorted.  
"No phone games until I put on some clothes," he echoed, then rolled across Martin to try and find his pants. She shook her head fondly, elbowing Martin in the ribs as she unlocked her phone.   
_Amanda, are you having a good week?_

"Hey, Martin?"  
"Yeah?" he answered, still groggy from sleep and tired after transforming.  
"Burgers soon right?"  
"Yeah. Soon as I find-" his eyes focused and he saw Vogel dart out of the van in his pants, carrying a pair of Martin's boxers in his hands and waving them aloft like a flag. Martin snarled, and launched himself after the youngest Rowdy, streaking across the clearing as Amanda laughed and pretended to look away.

After a minute, and an aggressive tickle fight, Martin returned, now wearing his underwear.  
"You hungry?"  
"Yeah," Amanda agreed, passing the others neat bundles of their clothes. "Got some adorable pictures of you guys last night. Cross got stuck in a tree. I'll show you over breakfast."

Plan made, Martin finished dressing and the six of them headed to the nearest drive through. After ordering a fucktonne of burgers, they found a deserted side road and cuddled up in the back of the van, flicking through the photos and laughing at the memories of the previous night.

Amanda hesitated.  
"Todd texted me this morning."  
There was an answering growl from the other residents of the van, and their support made her smile a little, reminded her she wasn't alone any more. She reached out, patting Vogel's knee. "He was asking how my week was gone."  
"That it?" Martin asked.  
"He wants something," Gripps said with certainty, as Cross muttered profanities to himself. Amanda nodded.  
"Question is what does he want," she murmured, looking up at Martin. "Because to me, timing seems shady as fuck."  
Martin nodded.  
"Icarus is a wolf too. And Lamia. Icarus hated it, and Lamia never really fully... she tried, but there's embracing being a wolf and then there's turning into a dog plushie whenever you think it's the full moon."

Amanda nodded, then smirked at her boys.  
"So Dirk's a werewolf, and Todd doesn't want me to know about it. Well, who wants to have some fun with him?" Her question was met with laughter from the rest of the Rowdies, and Beast jumping up and down with enough energy that the van rocked a little. Amanda laughed, considering how to reply, then typing out her answer carefully.  
 _I'm good. Had fun with the boys last night. How are Dirk and Farah?_

She paused, wondering if Todd was going to come clean.  
 _There good. You and the boys do anythin interesting?_

She read out the answer, considering, and then laughing softly, deciding to answer honestly. And have some fun while she did it.  
 _It was a busy night. Cross got into a fight with a parking metre then got stuck in a tree. Vogel managed to chase a squirrel up a lamp post, and then stood there growling at it for twenty minutes until I distracted him with jangling the keys, and then I had to stop Martin ripping out some asshole's throat. Gripps was pretty calm though, let me hug him for about an hour._ she hit send, before reading it out. It was Martin who caught on first, laughing and soon the others joined in. There was a pause, before her phone vibrated again.

_You know it was ful moon last night?_

_Are you telling me you're a werewolf Todd? Because that... almost explains some shit._

She repeated the messages, and by now Vogel was giggling, joining Beast in jumping up and down.  
 _Amanda. FFS. are they werewolves?!?!?!?!_

_Why?_   
_Cause I wouldnt put any of that past them when theyre just them_

That had Martin in howls of laughter, scrunching up a burger wrapper and throwing it up at the ceiling. The rest of the Rowdies soon joined in the game.  
"You guys okay with me saying?"  
"Icarus already knows." Martin shrugged. "And your brother's a dick, but he's not gonna use it against us."  
Amanda nodded.  
 _They're werewolves. Why?_

 _We need your help. Can you get to burgers_ A moment later her phone buzzed again.  
 _Burgers_ And again.  
 _Bergsberg._

Amanda glanced at a map.  
 _We can be there in three hours. What's going on?_  
***

Martin parked outside the police department, feeling a little sick. It wasn't like he hadn't spent time in jail cells - his boys tended to attract attention, and while they could feed and get out they sometimes didn't bother if the weather was shit and they needed somewhere to sleep. But this felt different. It felt wrong somehow. He pushed that thought aside, climbing out of the van and leading the way in, baseball bat at his side. None of them were going to go in somewhere like this unarmed.

Drummer pushed ahead, walking to the front desk and waving at the man behind it.  
"Hey, hear you're expecting me?"  
"You're Todd Brotzmann's little sister?" came an excited voice, and Martin smirked at the expression on Drummer's face. "Oh wow, is that your real hair-" The woman asked, reaching out to pat Beast.  
"We heard you'd got a werewolf problem," Martin explained, and the man at the desk hesitated.  
"I mean, I think so. I'm Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs, this is my deputy Tina Teventino," The woman waved to emphasise his point before returning to plaiting Beast's hair.

"Martin." Martin pointed to himself, then each of the Rowdies. "Gripps. Cross. Vogel. Beast. And this here's Drummer. She's in charge."

Drummer flashed him a shy smile.  
"My boys know about werewolves though, so Martin's going to-"  
A sudden yell from Vogel made Martin tense. He hadn’t noticed him slip away, but when he ran back and clung to Gripps he knew something was wrong. He grabbed his baseball bat tighter in his hand.  
"What's wrong Vogel?" Drummer asked, at his side in an instant. Vogel looked terrified, still nuzzling into Gripps and whimpering softly, the memories of last night still fresh enough that his behaviour wasn't quite human.   
"There are cages," Vogel whispered. "And only two beds in each and I don't wanna, I don't wanna-"

Gripps and Drummer both had their arms tight around him, but Martin joined the hug as well, Cross and Beast standing guard. The six of them took a few moments, until Vogel's breathing leveled off.  
"I don't want to go in a cage," Vogel said, his voice soft and heartbreakingly honest.  
"You aren't gonna go in a cage," Martin promised, and Drummer nodded. That seemed to calm Vogel a little.

The Sheriff stayed back until Vogel was calm, and Drummer leaned down to talk to him.  
"Vogel, I want you to stay by the door okay? Shout if you see any danger coming. Can you do that?"  
"Sure thing Boss," Vogel nodded, walking over to the door with a sense of purpose.

With Vogel adequately distracted, Martin lead the others through to the cells, startling slightly at the man he saw there: the one who had held Drummer at gunpoint, who had tortured his boys, starved them. He snarled, and heard Cross and Gripps echo the noise.

"Why'd you bring them here man?" the Blackwing grunt whined, panic filling the air. He was staring at them in horror, and Martin licked his lips, enjoying the fact that the man who had hurt them so badly was frightened of them now. He strode closer, and the Blackwing grunt backed up in his cell.

"Easy now everyone, let's just stay cool-" the sheriff's words were ignored by Martin, as Cross and Gripps fanned out on either side of him, trapping the man. Their ability wouldn't be held back by cell bars.

"The fuck!" the Blackwing grunt yelled. "Leave me alone you bastards. You ...you guys did this to me, you made me a monster like you and now I have to deal with turning into a wolf and it's weird and I got hit by a car and it's all your fault and now-"

Martin paused in his advance, tilting his head over to one side and raising his hand, signalling to his brothers to stop their advance.  
"You think I was the one who turned you?"

"Well, like, obviously?" the man answered. "Like, you guys are vampires or whatever, and you did your thing, and I know you're wolves because you changed so that means it's you and you did bite me so like... like you did this."

Martin snorted, lips curving into a smile as he registered what had happened.  
"Wasn't me. Wasn't me or none of my boys. We don't want you in our pack, and we sure as hell wouldn't take responsibility for you."  
"Then who-" the man starts to ask, and Martin can see the exact second that a dim lightbulb flickers into life behind his eyes.


	3. Barking at the moon

"Farah, are you not going to grab your stuff?" Todd asked, as he watched Dirk frantically loading up his bags. He knew from past experience that Dirk's idea of packing left a lot to be desired, but the other man seemed utterly terrified and giving him a simple task, one that he could do to keep his hands occupied, was often the best plan at times like this.

"I've got what I need at Bergsberg," Farah answered, pulling a rucksack out from under her desk. "And I've got two days of clothes for everyone and a few toiletries and other essentials in here."

Todd grinned, returning to his sister's latest text message and snorting slightly at what the Rowdies had apparently been up to. He wasn't sure if they were werewolves or not, and Amanda seemed to be toying with him, so he gave up and asked her. Confirmation received, he explained the situation as Dirk finished packing his bag.  
"Shit, where's Mona?"  
The bracelet on Dirk's wrist started to glow bright colours, and he glanced down and smiled. "There you are. Can't leave you behind now can we? And I know you like Amanda, so she'd miss you if you weren't there... Shall I drive?"  
"No," Farah and Todd said in unison, and Farah smiled at him more gently.  
"If it's urgent, I'll drive. You and Todd can see what you can work out about this."

"Thank you," Dirk said, picking up his bag and stumbling under the weight of it. Todd went to help him carry it, and the two of them stumbled down to the car. Farah climbed into the driver’s seat and soon they were speeding off. Dirk leaned over in the backseat so that he could rest against Todd, and Todd could feel him trembling slightly.  
"What's wrong?"  
"If there's werewolves in Bergsberg we've got a problem."

"I mean, I guess werewolves aren't… great? But Hobbs wasn't bit, so that's something right?" Todd asked, trying to work out how he was meant to handle this particular disaster. He was almost surprised by Dirk's sudden attack of nervous energy - he was normally pretty calm with aliens, and the Rowdies were a fact of life, but this case seemed to have him frightened. He didn't think he'd seen Dirk this panicked since the first time they were in Bergsberg.

"I'm glad, but someone there must have been, or else it's another escaped Blackwing subject," Dirk answered. "I've never met a werewolf that wasn't... wasn't there. But I guess there might be some." He shrugged. "Farah, could we stop for coffee soon? I'm really hungry."  
"We'll stop at the next truck stop," she promised, patient. 

"Did you know the Rowdies were werewolves?" Todd asked, more to fill the silence than anything. It would be a long journey if Dirk wasn't in a talking mood - and possibly longer if he was.   
"I suspected, I mean, it's hard to tell things like direction when I'm in that form and it isn't like they let us play together but I knew that someone was rather noisy, so I just kind of... assumed that it was them, and it seems like I'm right."

Todd nodded, thinking about that. He hadn't really considered _why_ Dirk might be a werewolf. It just kind of fit with everything else strange about him. But now, knowing it was a Blackwing thing, he was regretting not asking.

Amanda texted to say they had reached Bergsberg just after Dirk had got his hands on a strawberry milkshake, and Dirk seemed relieved by that news at least. He was still jumpy, stroking his fingers over Mona as she continued to be a bracelet.

"It'll be tomorrow we get there," Farah pointed out. "Even if we switch out driver-Dirk, you are not driving. Todd and I can switch out."  
"The Rowdies can defend the station, you know that," Todd argued when Dirk opened his mouth to protest. "And anyway, we'll be there as soon as possible."

Dirk nodded, gaze straying out the window.  
"It's not the full moon tonight," Todd reminded him. "That means he's no danger for a month. We have plenty of time."

Dirk didn't reply.

Todd's phone beeped, and he glanced down to see a picture image from Amanda. He opened it, and paused, frowning slightly when he saw an image of a frightened looking man half-hidden within some blankets, sitting in the familiar Bergsberg cell.  
"Dirk?"

Dirk took the phone from him and swore, then sighed dramatically.  
"God, I hate Blackwing."

***

"So, boy." Martin sneered the word as he stepped forwards to lean against the bars of the cell. The man within cowered away, and Drummer was standing, watching curiously. She placed herself between the Rowdies and the police, and Martin knew if he was to attack she'd trust him. But he was more curious than angry at that moment. The monster that starved them, that threatened Drummer, posed no threat right now. "You ask to end up like this?"

"No!" The prisoner glared at him, crossing his arms and nearly dropping his carefully arranged blanket. He backed up onto the bed, sitting down and curling up there. "I like... I didn't like know that he was, that..."  
"So what, he just bite you casual over dinner?"  
The prisoner turned a rather impressive shade of red that matched his eyes.  
"Uh. It was, like, the bit after dinner?" he murmured, rubbing at his shoulder. Martin could see the scar there. "Um, he didn't like... didn't say he was doing this. He just said he wasn't... uh... like gentle? And uh, I don't...don't normally mind-"  
"You got turned into a werewolf because you can't keep it in your pants?" Drummer interrupted incredulously, looking at the others to see if she'd understood.

"Well so did you!" Ex-supervisor Friedkin shot back, sounding like a teenager that thought he'd won an argument. The Rowdies in the room laughed.  
"I am not a werewolf," Drummer answered calmly. "Don't want to be, so the boys don't turn me." She paused, glancing out towards Vogel, her eyes flickering with worry. Martin shook his head a little, and she let out a breath. He could still taste the tension from her, sharp enough to cut through Friedkin's embarrassment. 

"I'll explain later," he promised, and the tension receded a little.  
"You need us to eat him?" Cross asked the lead police officer, who looked utterly horrified at the suggestion and shook his head rapidly in response.  
"No, uh don't do that."  
"Don't eat me!" Friedkin joined in. "Like, I came here to like, be helpful? And not cause trouble, and like, I need to give you like, a message? An important one? So if you eat me I'm pretty sure the universe would be mad at you and that would ... that would like be bad?"

Martin rubbed his forehead to chase away the headache which he could feel brewing.  
"Come on boys. Ain’t enough brains in this one to be worth the effort." He led his boys out of the cells, to the car park. Vogel perched on the roof of the van, Beast on top of a cop car, and the others around him. He glanced at Drummer.  
"I think we can just leave him. I don't think he's a danger, and I am certain he's not smart enough to be a spy for Blackwing. He wasn't exactly forced to turn-"  
"Werewolf by misadventure," Gripps contributed to the conversation, and Drummer snickered slightly.  
"So that means he ain’t our problem, way I see it. We checked in as a favour to your brother."

Drummer tilted her head slightly, her expression serious. He knew he wouldn't like what was coming next, tried to brace himself for it.  
"We'd better wait until Todd and Dirk get here,." sShe said after a moment. "Because if he does have a message, we should know. And if he doesn't, if this is all a trap.. Dirk only made it this far because you guys kept an eye on him."

"I don't wanna go in with all the cages boss," Vogel murmured, jumping down and standing beside Drummer. She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back soothingly.   
"I know. You aren't going into the cages, none of us are. We're gonna stay out here, where there's sky and we can wreck stuff and jump around, and when my brother turns up we will make this his problem."

Vogel sniffled but managed a brave smile up at her, and Martin felt proud of the kid. He knew this was hard on Vogel, maybe more than any of them.  
"So, uh, who did the genius in there bang?" Drummer asked, and the four original Rowdies exchanged glances.  
"Project Cerberus," Martin said carefully. "Blackwing's pet bastard." He knew the vitriol in his voice at that moment was reserved for only one person. Drummer knew it too.   
"Piece of shit," Cross muttered, and Martin could feel the energy and anger there. But Drummer turned to Gripps, the one she could trust for this kind of thing, and he nodded faintly.  
"Priest?" she asked, and Vogel jumped, looking around as though merely saying the asshole's name was enough to summon him.

 

***

Dirk kept glancing at the image Hobbs had sent to them, unable to stop thinking about the fact that Supervisor Friedkin, the man that had nearly shot him, the man that had tortured him, the man that had _saved_ him, was apparently in Bergsberg. And a werewolf. He wasn't sure which of those two pieces of information worried him more.

Farah was driving, occasionally calling out the time before they reached their destination. He was grateful for that. She must have been tired - her and Todd had been switching out who drove so that they would get there fast. It still felt like a miracle to him. Just over four months ago, he had been sure that he would never have anyone in his life. Then he had been back in Blackwing, and he had known everything was over, and then... then Todd had stayed. And so had Farah. 

Todd was sprawled against his side as they drove onwards, half asleep, his head lolling slightly. Dirk smiled at Farah in the rear view mirror, and she nodded.  
"Not too long now Dirk. Nearly in Montana."

"Thank you." His voice was little more than a whisper, but he was in awe of what they were doing. He had said that this was important, had said that they needed to go, and both of them had listened. There had been no arguments, no questions. Just Dirk had said he needed them to get to Bergsberg, and they were going to Bergsberg. He found it weird, the way these two trusted him. He didn't deserve their trust. But he was going to cherish it.

Todd stretched, blinking up at him sleepily. Mona was still a bracelet around Dirk's wrist, seeming to want to hold onto him in her own way. He took a few deep, calming breaths.  
"Dirk?"  
"Yes Todd?"  
"You think you can explain why you're a werewolf?"

Dirk felt his body grow tense at that question, but he'd known it would be asked. He took a slow breath, and then nodded.  
"Because I was bitten by a werewolf. Same as happened to Mona, only... well, her abilities mean that it presents a little unusually for her."  
Todd nodded slowly, and silence fell between them.  
"What aren't you saying?" Todd asked, and he said it softly. Dirk shrugged a little.   
"It... wasn't a good experience for me. But I survived, and so did she, and apparently so did the Rowdies and Friedkin, so honestly at this point I think I know more people who are werewolves than aren't and that's really quite embarrassing, I definitely need to make more non-werewolf friends and, Farah and Todd, you are utterly forbidden from becoming werewolves, because if you are as well then it'll just be awkward."

"What about Bart?" Farah asked from the front of the car, and Dirk laughed nervously to himself.  
"Bart is just Bart. She's not... she never got turned. Sometimes the universe wants her as her on the full moon, and she... she can't be harmed. We don't all work like that."

"What does being a werewolf even involve?" Todd asked. Dirk knew they were trying to find out more about what had happened, but he was equally sure he wasn't going to tell them.  
"You mean, other than turning into a wolf at full moon Todd? Because that's most of it."  
"I mean... like, does silver hurt? Garlic? Uh... do you eat brains?"  
"I'm pretty sure that's not werewolves," Farah pointed out from the front seat. Todd glared over at her.  
"Okay, one of us is dating some kind of horror movie creature-no offence Dirk - and you're not allowed to make snide comments."

"Dirk, for what it's worth, I'm sure you're a sweet werewolf and in no way a horror monster," Farah answered, and Dirk made himself smile, not commenting on the way his insides twisted slightly. Because Todd was right. He was a monster. A monster who put his friends at risk.

Farah said that Blackwing would have come after them by now if they were going to, but Dirk didn't trust that. He knew now he'd never escaped that first time and couldn't imagine they just let him slip through their fingers that easily. The supervisor of the whole thing showing up in the town where Farah's girlfriend lived - that worried him.

They passed the county sign in silence. Dirk stares at the slogan. 'Once you're here you'll never want to be gone' might have been intended to be comforting, but time had taken its toll and 'once you're here you gone' was definitely a threat. 

He tried to smile. He hated it here, felt trapped by where he was and what was happening, but the others were with him. It could be nothing. It was possible this was completely unrelated. Just a coincidence. He knew the universe would never be that kind to him, but he still allowed himself to consider it.

They pulled up in the station next to the Rowdies van, and Amanda stepped out to greet them. She smiled, hugging Dirk, and then Farah, and then her brother.  
"You ran off with a pack of werewolves?" Todd asked, sounding slightly disbelieving.   
"You got employed by one," she countered with a shrug. "And anyway, my boys are frankly adorable."  
"Did Cross really get stuck in a tree?"  
"I've got a photograph to prove it," she told him. "I'll show you later. Hobbs and Tina are inside-" she paused, seeing Farah stepping in. "So her and Tina are a thing?"  
"Yeah."  
"Wow." Amanda smirked. "Farah could do better."  
"I happen to think they're a very sweet couple," Dirk protested, hurrying up to the station. Amanda returned to the Rowdies before following them in.  
"My boys are gonna stay here and keep watch for any signs of trouble."  
"The Rowdy Three _are_ a sign of trouble," Dirk pointed out, and Amanda grinned, not arguing in any way with what she knew to be the truth. Her boys were trouble and she loved that. Dirk envied her that confidence in a way.

Friedkin was there. He was in his cell, talking to Hobbs, and waved when he saw Dirk. Dirk didn't wave back, but did run forwards to embrace Hobbs, letting him cuddle him for a moment. Hobbs gave excellent hugs and he was grateful for them.  
"Hello, thank you for calling me with your werewolf problem."  
"I'm not a problem!" Friedkin objected from his cell.

***

The guys were like, super rude. Calling him a problem, and a werewolf - okay, so Friedkin wasn't totally sure if he was a werewolf or not, but he wasn't a problem. He'd come here so he could _help_ and not only was he trapped in a cell and menaced by monsters, he was being laughed at. 

Friedkin laid back on his bed, grateful for the clothes the sheriff had provided him with. The colours and patterns weren’t what he’d normally choose for himself, but they were warm. The cell was kind of cold. He just had to remember what the message was he had come here with. Something about travelling - South East, he remembered that. And not going somewhere alone. And other things. But the thoughts were all jumbled, and he was hungry and tired and just wanted to nap. He yawned, and stared up at the detective who had bored him for the two months he was Blackwing's prisoner. He'd been sure the message was for Incubus, but then this was Icarus, and the names sounded the same. There was something he was meant to tell him.

Icarus was staring at him.  
"He bit you?"  
"He didn't... he didn't tell me he was like... gonna do this. I thought we were like... playing."  
"Playing?" Icarus asked, and then he worked it out, eyes widening in disgust. Friedkin flinched back from that look, feeling threatened by the anger there.  
"I just... thought it'd be fun." Friedkin stared at the floor of the cell. He didn't want to discuss it, not with this man. He could hear some of Incubus laughing in the next room. The sheriff appeared with some hamburgers, handing them over, and Friedkin smiled at him thankfully, glad that for a moment at least everything was going smoothly.  
"So why are you here?" Icarus asked, leaning against the bars.  
"I have a message. I just... can't remember it right now," Friedkin explained, and Icarus snorted at him.  
"The message might be important," Icarus pointed out, glaring at him angrily as though it was somehow his fault that he hadn't been given a piece of paper with the universe's message on it. The whole thing was really dumb. If it was this important they should have written it down and not just added it to the other thoughts swirling in his head.

"I can't remember it," Friedkin tried to argue, and Icarus glared at him, his gaze going icy.  
"Can't you just try harder?" he spat.   
Friedkin glared at him, certain that he was blamed for something that he didn't feel he could control. It wasn't his fault he couldn't do it, the universe just didn't like, work that way? He tried to explain it, but the look that Icarus gave him made him fall quiet, the tips of his ears glowing faintly red with embarrassment as everything slotted into place.

Not the message. The stupid message from the stupid universe was still as forgotten as ever. But he knew why Icarus glared at him that way.  
"Look, I'm sorry," he tried to explain. "About this. About all of it. I didn't know."

Icarus turned and walked away, his arms wrapped around his chest. He leaned on the guy he tended to hang around with, and Friedkin could see them whispering. There was nothing that Friedkin could say to stop the pain there, no way he could apologise, so instead he decided to try and remember. If he could remember the message, then everything would be okay. Maybe that would like, mean they forgave him, or at least that he was let out of this stupid cell. Sherlock was pretty nice as guys went, and gave him donuts, but he wanted to be out doing stuff and he was trapped.

He was sure there was a word for what was happening to him, but he couldn't remember it.

***

Todd wrapped his arms around Dirk, able to feel that he was trembling. He could see why, this entire situation had even the Rowdies spooked. He kissed his cheek, and Dirk smiled sadly up at him.  
"You're going to be okay," Todd promised. "I'm not going to abandon you."  
"Thanks." Dirk couldn't meet his eyes. That worried Todd. "I just... hope he remembers soon, and then he can clear off, and everything will be better."

"I know," Todd agreed. "Come on, there's a diner Tina recommended. They do good ice cream. Far-" he started to call Farah over, then paused when he saw the way that Tina was resting against Farah's side as they worked, a shy smile on Farah's face. He was happy for her. She deserved that. "We'll be okay on our own right?"   
"Yeah," Dirk nodded, taking Todd's hand and leaving the station. "Ice cream... Ice cream would be good." 

"Did you say ice cream?" Vogel asked, jumping down from his spot on top of the Rowdy's van. "Are we going to get ice cream? I can ask Drummer for cash and I promise I won't smash anything."  
Todd paused, planning to explain that this was _private_ ice cream, so he could talk to Dirk, before seeing the haunted look in Vogel's eyes.  
"We'd love the company," Dirk said quickly, and Vogel nodded.   
"Could you go and ask Drummer for me?" he murmured, and Dirk nodded, reaching out and patting Vogel's arm awkwardly.  
"Is it the cells?"  
"Don't wanna see no cages."  
"I'll go," Dirk agreed, slipping into the station. 

"Thanks for letting me come for ice cream," Vogel said to Todd as they were left alone. Todd nodded, counting the seconds until Dirk's return and then embracing him tightly.  
Dirk handed over a couple of notes to Vogel, and then the three of them headed into town. Vogel was practically vibrating with excitement, and if Todd was honest Dirk wasn't much better.  
"What flavours do you guys want?"  
"All of them!" Vogel yelled enthusiastically, earning them dirty looks from passers by. Dirk hesitated.  
"I'll see what I feel like when I get there." 

Todd nodded, never sure if things like this were Dirk being indecisive or him knowing that the universe would make itself known soon. He hoped it was the first, things were stressful enough as it was without some kind of universe shenanigans happening to make things more difficult. The way that Dirk looked at him seemed to confirm it.

Vogel paused as they were crossing the street towards the diner, tilting his head to one side and sniffing the air. After a moment he shrugged, clearly pushing the thought aside as he carried on at speed, Todd hurrying after him.

Dirk stumbled slightly over a lump of metal in the road, and Todd twisted to catch him before he could fall, grinning.  
"Try not to let me sweep you off your feet."

***

 

"Uh. Miss Rowdy?" came the voice of their current problem from the back room of the station. Amanda wished she was surprised that her brother had fucked off to get ice cream, leaving her to deal with this, but by now it almost felt standard. At least he'd been sensible enough to take Vogel along too. 

"Name's Amanda Brotzman," she shot back, walking over to the cell where the man was sat.  
"Miss Brotzman," he corrected himself, and she remained silent. "I wondered if you had, like, the names of your guys?"

"Are you asking me whether I know the names of the men I live with?"  
"Yeah. If that's like, a thing you can do?"  
"There's four of them. I can keep track. There's Martin, Vogel, Cross and Gripps."

"Thanks," the ex-Blackwing agent nodded. "That's like, a real big help."  
"Did you remember any of your message?" Amanda asked.  
"A bit?" Friedkin shrugged. "Like, not enough to be like, useful, but enough that I can kind of... keep track of things? Like..." he trailed off again. She sighed softly.

"I remember it's in two bits. Like, there's one bit that's for you, I remember that, and it's saying about going South East. Or not going South East." He frowned. "And the other one's like... if that one's a highway sign, this is like a post it? But it's about Icarus."

"What about him?" Amanda asked. If Friedkin heard the unspoken threat, he chose not to comment on it.  
"That like, he shouldn't wander off on his own for a bit. Well, not like, alone alone? More he shouldn't like, go off with any strange men called... James, or Joseph, or..."  
"Jacob?" Amanda asked, her heart sinking as she glanced around the room. Dirk had asked if he could borrow Vogel for ice cream. She'd wanted the younger Rowdy to stretch his legs and avoid the prison cells, not to face whatever threat was coming. 

"Yeah, Jacob like, could totally be that. You don't know where he is do you? We could like, make sure we don't leave him and Dirk alone and then everything will be fine," he argued, and Amanda shook her head, whistling to call her boys over, Hobbs, Tina and Farah in pursuit.

"This guy here says Dirk shouldn't go off alone with Vogel."  
"What of it?" Hobbs asked, and Amanda saw the look of utter frustration and despair on Farah's voice.  
"He's already gone." 

***

Dirk stared down at the can of knockout gas at his feet. He was still working out what it was when it opened, chemicals spewing out towards him, and the world began to go dark.


	4. There's a bad moon on the rise

Todd woke up slowly, becoming aware of the searing pain in his wrists first of all, before his mind started to register the other noises around him. He could hear soft whimpering from one side of him, and Dirk's agitated muttering to the other. He wanted to keep his eyes closed, to pretend that this wasn't happening, but he needed to know what they were facing. He remembered crossing the street, joking with Dirk and planning on ice cream (he'd decided he was going to go for coffee and chocolate because he needed caffeine and sugar if he was expected to deal with Vogel and Dirk without support). 

Then there had been the sound of something exploding, and then he'd felt himself grow dizzy.

Focusing, he realised that his hands were held above him, at a height which put strain on his wrists. He shifted slightly, moving onto his tiptoes, and opening his eyes. The room he was in was pitch black, and out of the corner of his eye he thought he could see shapes moving. He tried to tell himself he was just imagining things.  
"Dirk?" he whispered.  
"Ah, hello Todd," Dirk's response was almost instant, leaving his muttering to focus on this new development.  
"Have we been kidnapped by a case?"  
"Kidnapped, most definitely, I certainly can't see why some people want to be handcuffed recreationally. I do hope your handcuffs are at a lower height than mine, because you're going to be struggling to keep your feet on the floor otherwise." Todd didn't comment on the dig at his height, because it was annoyingly accurate.

Dirk took a deep breath and then continued.  
"Unfortunately though, this isn't a case. I wish it was, but you know how things go, the universe being what it is-"  
"Dirk, you're rambling."  
"I am, aren't I?" Dirk agreed, and took a few shaky breaths. When he spoke again he sounded marginally calmer, although not by much.   
"I'm afraid that I believe Blackwing got us."

Before Todd could reply he heard a whimper from the other resident of the room, Vogel shaking and squirming where he was trapped.  
"But Boss said I wouldn't go back in no cage," Vogel argued, and he sounded so determined, so desperate, that Todd felt almost sick. He wanted to say something to calm him down, but couldn't construct a lie that would be believable. 

"If it's Blackwing, why did they take me?"  
"That's a very good question, and really one I have been asking myself since I registered your presence. I have a handful of theories, but I am currently leading on the concept that either you are bycatch and Blackwing hasn't heard of catch and release, or you're bait. And it wasn't me they wanted. Or it was me they wanted and catching us both together took them by surprise but I don't know why that would be because we're often together."  
"Do you think it's because of Fri-"  
"I think it’s almost certainly that Blackwing have cameras and recorders in all of their rooms," Dirk answered frantically, and Todd tensed, imagining what that must be like for Dirk when he was younger, how hard it was to trust when you couldn't even relax in the privacy of your own room.

"Anyone see who got us?"  
"No, I'm afraid the gas canister was rather a distraction." Dirk’s voice had taken on that tone it did when he was afraid. Todd had heard more than enough of that tone in the Wendimoor case, he didn't need to hear it again.  
"Didn't see him," Vogel said, and now his voice was quieter. "Smelled him."

"Shit," Dirk muttered. "Priest?"  
Vogel's confirmation was more of a whine than discernible words, but Todd still felt sick. This was bad. He'd seen how Dirk had acted the last time they were around Priest.  
"We'll get out of here," he lied. He'd always been good at lying, when it would benefit him, and now he needed to do it. He had to keep these other two calm, because quite frankly he wasn't at all sure how to deal with being chained from the ceiling in some unknown location.  
"We will," Dirk said firmly. "All of us." He placed emphasis on the word all, and Todd tried to understand. He heard something move behind them, before footsteps in the corridor made him freeze.

The lights turned on, and Todd flinched back from the pain, hearing Vogel hiss. His eyes were closed, and so he didn't see the man enter the room. He heard footsteps behind him, felt a hand trail along his midback, heard laughter. Beside him, Dirk was mumbling to himself. Todd couldn't hear the words, but he was sure that they would not be positive.

"Let me go you creep!" he shouted, because that felt like the kind of thing you should yell when kidnapped by a madman. The man moved away and the lights dimmed a little, allowing him to open his eyes slightly. He twisted to see that the man was standing behind Vogel, a knife in his hand. Vogel was squirming, and Todd flinched as the man ran the blade across his shoulder, cutting away the youngest Rowdy's jacket and shirt. From the angle that he was at, Todd could see a thick scar across his shoulder, a large area that was unnaturally smooth.

"My brother do that to you?" Priest asked, and when there was no response he stuck his knife into the scar. Vogel screamed, and Todd stared in horror as the boy's other shoulder was exposed, the knife glinting as it cut deep into his skin. The boy was screaming more now, struggling against his bonds.

"Leave him alone!" Dirk's voice was trembling, but he spoke up and Todd turned to him. It took him a moment to notice that Dirk's bracelet had disappeared. Mona had escaped.  
"I'm just undoing a mess my brother made." Priest smirked, walking over. "Although, if you're that concerned about little Incubus four, I'm sure I can have some fun with your pet instead.”

***

Vogel tried to make his tears stop. His shoulders both felt like they were burning, making his position hurt even more. He could feel the blood running down his back, and the bastard had ruined his best jacket.  
"He isn't your brother," Vogel muttered, trying to shout it, but the words came out quieter than he'd have liked. "He's ours now."

"He's not marked you as his any more..." The bastard said. "Was that a little thing for you? Let you pretend you're a real part of their pack?"

"I am!" Vogel argued, but then the bastard wasn’t even being human any more. It was actually pretty cool that he could turn into a wolf any time he wanted, but it wasn't any help at this moment as the creature walked around in front of Icarus's boyfriend, licking his lips.

***

Todd thought his heart was about to stop. Dirk was quite frankly adorable in his wolf form, and the photographs Amanda had shown him of the Rowdies revealed a pack at play, their terror softened by the way they cuddled up against his sister. But the creature before him now had none of that tenderness. Like a creature from some primeval forest, it stood before him, saliva dripping from its jaws, eyes seeming to glow.  
"Todd, I am so sorry." Dirk's voice was desperate. "I am so, so sorry about all of this."

Dirk winced as the wolf snapped at him, but continued until it jumped up, placing its paws on Dirk's chest. Dirk was almost knocked backwards from the force of the impact, and then went quiet as it opened its mouth, pressing its fangs against Dirk's throat, drops of blood beading there.

"It's okay," Todd lied, because if Dirk was going to die, he couldn't die thinking that Todd hated him. 

The wolf released Dirk, and then swung back around to Todd, leaning up against him. He was now supported just by the chains around his wrists, and his arms felt like the were on fire. Then the wolf's jaws snapped against his ear, before those sharp, cruelly-curved canines pierced into the flesh of his shoulder. He was in so much pain that the meaning of the moment almost passed him by, the world around him going dark. It was only when the man was human once more, human and smirking, that he realised he'd been bitten by a werewolf.

The man unchained his hands, and he fell forwards onto all fours. 

There was no hesitation before he was grabbed, bundled out into brighter light where there were more people in uniforms waiting, and a blindfold was placed over him.   
"Dirk?" he screamed, but there was no reply, only laughter of the man who had captured him. 

"You and me are going on a little trip to test a theory, that sound good to you?"  
Wordlessly, Todd shook his head.


	5. Hunting and Chasing

"He's already gone," Amanda explained to the sheriff.  
Martin winced. Vogel was the most easily frightened of the Rowdies. Despite his attempts at confidence and bravery, at points the boy was still the scared child he had been when he was younger, before they had escaped. For the other Rowdies, there was a before-Blackwing, a point that they could remember when things got tough to help stay in control. But Vogel didn't have that. If the universe didn't want him wandering off, then Martin should have gone with him. But he'd been caught up in trying to supervise Drummer and Icarus, and he'd let Vogel down.

"Okay boys." He turned to Cross and Gripps. "We'd better go find them and get them out of whatever mess they're in this time."  
"Yeah!" Cross agreed, grabbing a crowbar which he had left on the floor at his feet.

"Carrying weapons like that in public is really not cool," the sheriff protested, taking half a step backwards when Martin snarled at him.  
"What's 'not cool' is my baby brother wandering into danger because that idiot couldn't remember what he was meant to pass on." 

Icarus's girl, the only competent one there, moved between the two of them, her hands raised. "Look, we're on the same side right now. Martin, Cross, Gripps. No destruction unless its to get Vogel and the others out of trouble. Sheriff Hobbs, if this is a Blackwing issue... it's not safe for you and Tina to be there."

"I'm the Sheriff, Farah," the sheriff told her firmly, but with kindness in his voice, reaching out to put his hand on her arm. "I know you're trying to protect us. But this is our job. We need to keep people safe."

Martin rolled his eyes. They didn't have time for all this feelings and emotion right now. He marched through to the cells, grabbing the bars. "I don't suppose you know where they've gone?"

"Church… road?" the idiot in the cell replied, frowning a little. "Something like that. There's... I don't know. The universe said I was meant to stop this happening, not like-"  
"Fix. It," Martin snarled. "You might not be human anymore, but I'm pretty sure I can still feed off you. And I'm happy to try if you don't start giving me answers I want."

"Easy now-" the sheriff put his hand on Martin's shoulder. On reflex, Martin twisted, slamming him back against the nearest wall with his hand around the man's throat.  
"Don't. Grab. Me," He hissed, before releasing him. The sheriff stared at him uncertainly, his breath coming in gasps, but Martin turned his attention back to the cell.  
"Tell us everything."

"What everything?" the idiot asked, and Martin could feel his headache growing, pretty sure his IQ was dropping just by trying to speak to this man.  
"Everything relevant," he growled, then turned away. "You-" he pointed at Tina. "You stay here and try and talk to that dumbass. We need to go and find Vogel before he gets hurt."

"They went for ice cream," Drummer said softly.  
"I told them that the Moonlight Diner on Walnut Street does good ice cream," Tina said, and Martin nodded, resisting the urge to punch the wall or scream. Letting his anger out wouldn't help anything. He raised his hand to his throat, fingers brushing the "In Control" tattoo that Cross and Gripps had helped him with when they had first escaped, remembering how Vogel had sat on his lap and held his hands to get him through the pain of it, telling him jokes which made no sense. He took a few deep breaths.  
"Okay. We start looking there."

A sudden loud bang at the window, like a rock hitting it, made Drummer jump. Martin looked over, and saw a small boomerang-shaped bird with a white throat hammering its beak against the window.  
"Uh, boss?" Cross frowns and pointed over at the window. "I think the bird wants to get in."

The sheriff opened the window, and the bird flew in, tumbling to the floor as Icarus's sister, wearing the white dress she often wore when she was human. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her eyes looked damp. She had clearly been crying.  
"He's got them," she told Farah, collapsing into Farah's shoulder and sniffling. "I know where they are-"  
"We ain't gonna let him get you girl," Martin promised, walking over to rub her shoulders. None of the Rowdies needed to ask who 'he' was. They all knew. "You did what you could for them. Well done for getting back here."  
"You did good Mona," Farah reassured her.

"Who's got them?" the sheriff asked.  
"We need to get going, now." Martin insisted.

***

Mona leaned into the warmth of Farah's shoulder. When she was growing up she had no friends other than Dirk, but now she had lots of friends. Farah was probably her favourite. She was soft and sometimes she got scared so Mona looked after her. Farah could cuddle her or squish her if she was a squeezy toy.

She sniffled. She didn't like being a person. It was too emotional. It was easier to be a thing, and that way she could help but not get sad. Her arms ached for the feathers she had had a few moments before, her feet leaden on the ground. Her eyes were leaking water. She had to be a person though, to talk to them. "They're chained up. He arrived as I escaped, I don't think he saw me."

"Well done," Farah said, and her fingers brushed down Mona's spine. It felt nice. For a moment Mona wondered what it would feel like if she was a hedgehog, or a snake, or a cloud. But the others were looking at her expectantly, so she straightened up, addressing her next words to the lady that was in charge of Incubus now.  
"I can take you there, but I don't..." She trailed off. She wasn't brave, like Dirk or like Incubus. She wasn't a fighter, and didn't want to go on adventures (the adventures with Dirk were different, they were fun and she liked fun but they'd end up in trouble and trouble was bad).  
"You can stay with Sheriff Hobbs," Farah told her, confirming that she was Mona's favourite friend after Dirk who was her best friend ever and always would be.

"Do you have a map?"  
"Can't you show us?" Incubus one growled, and she blinked at him.  
"I flew. You can't go over rooftops and things but I know where..." She hesitated, before turning into a map herself. Her edges fluttered slightly in the faint breeze, and she made sure that the building the others were held in was circled in red, with where they were circled in red again. Concentrating, she drew out a map of the best route to where the others were, nearly giggling at the sensation of ink across the surface of her as she tried to be the best map she could be, to make sure they'd get there fast.

"Thank you Mona," Farah said, because Farah was nice and she remembered to say thank you even when Mona wasn't a person. She picked up Mona, and showed it to the others, discussing tactics. Mona tried to listen, even if that was hard without ears, and to alter the markings on her skin to match the plans they were discussing. She could tell that Incubus One was angry but she didn't know how to stop it, so she tried to be a good map and not to make him angrier. 

She didn't like people being angry near her, especially when she was in a form like this, that tore easily. Farah's touches were gentle, and as they started to move she allowed herself to relax and focus on her nature as a map. She could hear the Sheriff talking, but couldn't make out his words, and she was proud of how she was doing. She thought she was probably a good map, and when they found Dirk he could confirm it.

She fluttered slightly to make the act more convincing.

***

Martin stared in disbelief at Icarus's sister, who was now being a map. He had known that she was a little odd - growing up within Blackwing had that effect, even on those whose powers were easily understandable. 

Farah caught his eye, pointing at the diagram she'd drawn.  
"We can head here, Hobbs can come to this point and wait with Mona and Amanda, and if we're not back he can come in and provide backup."  
"You aren't-"  
"I'm coming," Farah said firmly. "Those two are my employees, and more than that they're my best friends. It isn't that I don't trust you. I do. But your priority is going to be Vogel, it has to be. So I need to do this one. I need to be there to get Todd and Dirk out. I'm good at fighting, and you refusing just slows us down."

Martin laughed a little, raising his hands in mock surrender.  
"You can come." He turned his attention to his boys. "Let's go and get our baby brother back."

Gripps and Cross both hollered in response, and Amanda nodded, hefting up her own baseball bat as she dropped back to stand by the Sheriff. Martin hoped they wouldn't be needed, that this would be a quick rescue and ideally a chance to hit Project Cerberus over the head with something hard.

Martin was fairly sure he spent more time than was strictly necessary contemplating different ways of injuring Project Cerberus. He was pretty certain the activity was mutual though, so he didn't feel particularly bad about it. 

Looking at the map that had been (and probably would at some point again resume being) Icarus's sister, Martin saw that they were heading to Chapel Street. Which was a sign of quite how useless the idiot in the cell was. Two words, and he'd got _both_ of them wrong. Still, if the girl's escape really had gone unnoticed there was a good chance that was where Vogel and the others were waiting. If that was the case, there was no time to lose, and a rescue to carry out. The police lady and Beast were going to stay behind, the Sheriff and Drummer were backup, and the rescue was relying on him, Farah, Cross and Gripps. Given Blackwing had canisters which could knock out projects, there was more potential for this to go wrong than he would like.

"Hey, girly?" he poked the map, and a question mark appeared at the point he had touched it. "You think you could do me a favour and be a gas mask? Just in case that place is boobytrapped?"  
The question mark turned into a green tick and then a smiley face beneath his finger. Icarus's sister was quite possibly the strangest person he had ever met, but she was helping get Vogel and the others back and that was the important thing. Martin liked weird. Weird was what he and his brothers and Drummer were. What Icarus was. He patted the map and for a moment the lines wriggled before resuming their prior positioning, showing them where to go.

***

Dirk had to admit that being chained to the ceiling was never a position he found particularly comfortable. Being chained to a ceiling with a crying Rowdy, and an absence of previously present and now-a-werewolf boyfriend was worse.

"Boss said we didn't have to go in no cages..." Vogel muttered to himself, sounding utterly dejected.  
"Technically we're not in a cage?" Dirk pointed out, attempting to help and failing miserably, judging by the noise the boy made.  
"I mean, I'm certain that Farah will turn up any minute now," Dirk said hopefully. He could hear the boy sniffing the air, and then letting out another whimper.

"Is he coming back?"  
"I dunno," Vogel admitted. "It... it smells like the guys, but he did that to me before, let me think... I'm not... I'm not going with him. I'm not." Dirk could hear Vogel thrashing in the chains, and knew he was at risk of hurting himself.   
"Help will come," Dirk said firmly. "He doesn't have the others. And they're alive, so they'll be looking for us, I swear it."

"Okay..." Vogel sniffled, and then Dirk could hear voices outside the building. For a moment he remained quiet, until he heard the sound of breaking glass.  
"It's them," he told Vogel, and Vogel laughed nervously.  
"You think it's the guys?"  
"I'm sure of it." The door crashed open, the light blinding. As he recovered his vision he glanced at Vogel, the doorway too bright to look at directly. Vogel had risked looking up at him hopefully. Dirk could see how Vogel was shaking in his chains.  
"You okay there little bird?" Martin's voice rang out as he stepped into the room, a mask over his face, and Dirk let out a soft sigh of relief. Farah was by his side in a moment.  
"Mona?" he asked, and she nodded.  
"Came straight to us and told us where you were. Sorry it took so long."  
"Did you get Todd?" Dirk asked hopefully, and when Farah shook her head he tried not to flinch away. It wasn't Mona's fault. She had done well in near impossible circumstances, he just wished that she could have followed Todd to wherever he had been taken.

"This feels too easy?" Farah said, and Dirk stumbled forwards as he was released from his bindings.  
"I'm guessing we aren't the trap, it seems more likely that for now his attention is focused on Todd, and really we're more unfortunate by-catch than anything."

"I'm gonna kill the fucker," Martin snarled, and Dirk twisted to see Vogel was clung to Martin, as Martin brushed his fingers around an open wound on Vogel's shoulder. "I swear it," Martin promised, and, shaking, Vogel nodded.   
"What happened there?" Dirk asked. He'd been somewhat out of it when Priest had arrived, a mixture of terror and wooziness from the drugs making comprehension challenging.  
"Bastard grabbed you."  
"No, I know that," Dirk protested. "He like, cut Vogel. And Vogel already had one, now he matches..."

"He tried to steal him back from me." Martin answered, cradling Vogel against his chest. "He thinks he can keep him as his..."  
"He turned him?"  
"He turned him and I bit him," Martin answered. "That's what he took. My claim on him. Our claim," he nuzzled against Vogel's hair, having taken off the mask. He handed the squeaky toy back to Dirk, who cuddled his sister closely. "He's part of the Rowdy Pack, and nothing that bastard does can change that."

Vogel nodded, and Dirk pretended he couldn't see the tears on Vogel's face.   
"So what happened?" Farah asked. "He turn all of you?"  
"He turned me and Mona," Dirk agreed. Martin shook his head.  
"He only turned me, and Vogel here. Vogel came along late... he turned me, and threw me in with my boys. Wanted to see us rip each other apart, wanted to see us panic. Guess the fucker was disappointed."

Dirk startled slightly at that. He'd never considered what had happened, and felt sick about the thought of having to turn Farah or Todd.  
"But you could resist-"   
"He deliberately starved and tortured me, made sure I was half-mad with pain. Anyway, he'd made it clear that if it wasn't me it'd be him. And I didn't want him near either of them if I could help it."

Dirk nodded slowly.   
"He said you were-"  
"Not any more." Martin spat, and Dirk raised his hands.   
"You have a real family now," Dirk agreed. "I understand that. Please... let's get out of here, and then let's... let's get somewhere safe." 

***

Amanda smiled as all four of her Rowdies left the building, Vogel racing forwards to embrace her. She cuddled him close, ignoring the smear of blood he left on her top. He needed to be held, and that mattered more than her comfort. Dirk left the building next, looking a little unsteady on his feet as he left the house. He was leaning against Farah, which seemed a frankly sensible idea - she was probably the most stable of all of them. He had Mona in his hand, which was reassuring. 

She frowned slightly when no one else emerged, that worry giving way to terror in the space of a heartbeat.   
"Where's Todd?" she asked, feeling frantic. "Where's my brother, Dirk?"

"Priest took him," Dirk answered, his voice shaking a little. "Priest turned him, and he took him away. I'm... I'm sorry Amanda. We'll get him back. We'll get him." She could see that Dirk was panicking, and she wanted to help him, but she could feel her own body shaking. It felt like she was being pulled away from everything, and then suddenly flame burst across her body, running down her arms and up to head. She could hear herself screaming, and the boys were surrounding her. She could see the light flowing from her to them, as they took her pain and used it, allowing her to see.

A sudden flurry of images swept over her. There was an image of Todd, and then of the map that Mona had been, and then the moon, and a pack of wolves, and then clouds, and Priest smirking down at them holding a gun, and a dozen other things that passed before she could fully register them.

She lay on the ground panting, staring up at the others who were all looking down at her, waiting for a clue. She swallowed before she managed to speak.  
"I know where he's taken him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mona turns into a white-throated needletail in this chapter. A bird native to Asia and Australia, they have the fastest horizontal flight speed of any bird, and are a species of swift)


	6. Bite worse than her bark

The Brotzman boy was screaming as he was pushed into a car, taken speeding away from where his boyfriend and the littlest of Project Incubus were. The others might find them, and if not he would send a clean up crew to check on them in a day or two. It would be no good if they died.

"Quiet," he ordered the man, who was curled up in the seat of the car, his hand pressed on his shoulder.  
"Where are you taking me?" Brotzman asked, and Priest sighed slightly. He'd been used to Blackwing subjects. He'd forgotten what it was like to deal with people who thought they could disobey. It was frustrating, but it would be fun to show him how little control he had over his situation.

"Away from here. Seeing if they can follow you. Boss thinks that your sister can track people. If they find you, then we'll know, and I'll be able to capture them. If not, Svlad is going to be beside himself with worry. He's killed so many people, and still blames himself for it..." He laughed softly to himself, staring at the road.

"Amanda's not stupid enough to-"  
"That girl is plenty stupid enough. And if we're right, you should be grateful, because it means she's a subject. We don't kill subjects unless it becomes necessary. Miss Black interests me. For now, you and the creature are the most disposable, so I'd think careful about answering me back, boy."

The rest of the journey passed in silence, and he reached the Blackwing safehouse, waving Brotzman into the house at gunpoint and then attaching cuffs to his wrists and pinning him to a bar in the living room set up for the restraint of troublesome subjects.  
"Why… why did you bite me?" Brotzman asked softly, his voice trembling. But he was braver than Svlad, able to speak.  
"Because it will be funny to see the way that Svlad reacts. Because he got you caught up in this. You could have lived normally. But he had to go and get friends.”

It looked like Brotzman might try and argue, so Priest slammed his toe-capped boot into Brotzman's stomach, dialling Ken.   
"I got him. Gone to the first safe house. We'll move in a couple of hours. Bring him in. Where is Marzanna?" He smiled slightly as Ken answered, knowing he had this all very much under control.   
"Bart’s still in her room."  
"Ask her if she wants to come and join me at the base I'm heading to."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I want her here if a fight breaks out. And I trust her."  
"She doesn't trust you," Ken warned, and Priest shook his head, flopping down on the sofa.  
"I know she doesn't trust me. That's okay. I can work with her, long as you tell her not to murder me."

"She wants to murder me," Ken grouched, and Priest laughed.  
"I'm afraid I got a little carried away," Priest admitted. "I turned Brotzman ahead of schedule."  
"This is why I say you need a muzzle," Ken answered, and Priest could hear the teasing note to his voice. "But that's alright. You're just stuck with him in your time of the month."  
"Don't," Priest warned, and heard Ken laugh before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Brotzman asked, and Priest walked forwards, beginning to punch him and kick him until he was whimpering, curled up at his feet. He snorted and turned away, beginning to work on a report.  
"Svlad ruined your life. You'll learn that soon enough."

***

Dirk fidgeted as he walked around the Bergsberg police station. This wasn't even the first time he'd been here as his life fell apart. Hobbs paused, leaning in to whisper to Mona, and pulling out his phone. A moment later, his sister transformed into a soft brown kitten that scurried over to him and mewed pathetically. He gave in and sat down, and she clambered up before she curled up on Dirk's legs. Dirk stroked his fingers through her fur, finding the softness strangely soothing.  
"What do we do?" he murmured, not expecting a response. He felt like this was all his fault. He'd ruined everything, again.  
"Stupid Dirk always getting his boyfriend caught by Blackwing," Dirk muttered to himself, yelping slightly as sharp teeth brushed against his fingers - not drawing blood, but gently warning him that he needed to be careful. That he needed to be kind to himself, same as he was to the others. Mona was always patient with him, always thought the best even when common sense told him that she shouldn't. He patted her gently, tickling behind her ears fondly. She purred in response.

"We get him back," Farah explained, Dirk stared up at her blankly. She shrugged her shoulders. "We get him back. You asked what we do, and that's what... that's what we do. We get him back."  
"And soon," Martin agreed. "Drummer knows where he's gone. We can get there, stop that bastard, and get him home. Then you get to spend some time, and when it's full moon you ain't on your own no more."

The cat on Dirk's lap gave a rather indignant hiss, and Martin chuckled.   
"Sorry girl, I know you're there."  
She purred her acceptance of his apology, and Dirk stared in shock, hardly able to believe the conversation that was happening. The entire situation was too strange, too much. He’d lost Todd, and that was devastating. But he wasn't on his own. He had support, people he could rely on to help him get them back, and that was good. That was something he hadn't had when he was younger. Priest and Blackwing still terrified him. But Farah was amazing, and Martin and the rest were tough. If anyone could get Todd back, it'd be them.

He took a few deep breaths, then nodded.  
"So where is he, Amanda?"

***

Amanda was still calming down from her attack. Vogel had sat her down and was resting beside her, nuzzling into her neck for comfort, and she reached out to stroke his hair, hoping it would help him. Vogel was a good person, and he'd been kidnapped by his worst nightmare. He deserved better than getting caught up in all this. She remembered her own encounter with the man, the way he hadn't cared if either of them lived or died. That man having her brother was a nightmare. But she was with the Rowdies, and they were able to destroy nightmares. She swallowed, taking some deep breaths before she spoke.

"I saw a road sign. One said it was thirty miles to Bergsberg. Then I saw a Welcome Sign. It said "Welcome to Belleville, a Plainly Great place to be" - some of the letters had fallen off, but pretty sure that's what they were going for. And then... like, a house? You know, I'd recognise it if I saw it - slightly overgrown garden, wooden construction, door looked like it needed paint. But a pretty normal house-"  
"We could go there," Farah interrupted. "Drive around-"  
"Blackwing will be there," Dirk murmured, and Amanda flinched slightly at how very broken his voice sounded. "If we're going to have any chance at all we need to get in then get straight out, not drive in circles looking for a house that might not even-"  
"Can't you do your thing, Icarus?" Martin asked, and Dirk shot him a look that was a mixture of hatred and despair, Amanda raising her hands to try and calm the situation.

"If it worked like that, I would." Dirk turned to Martin. "Can't you guys smell him? You chased me across the bloody globe, surely a couple of towns shouldn't-"  
"It don't work like that, boy," Martin said, but he was speaking gently now, and his eyes looked a little sad. "Wish like hell it did, but it don't. Can't just make us smell him, he's gotta be... gotta be someone the universe wants us to find interesting. To find tasty. We can't just..."

"Um?" Tina waved her hand from where she was sat on the floor, playing on her phone. "I've got an idea? I mean, it might just be the weed talking but like..." she held up her phone.  
"Think you're going to have to use some words," Farah prompted gently, leaning in and pressing a kiss to the star tattoo above Tina's eye. Amanda couldn't help smiling slightly at that, delighted to see her friend looking so at peace with herself.

"Well, Amanda says she knows how the building looks? So she can just look it up on street view or something? Then Blackwing can't get us when we're looking, and we know where we're-" Tina's explanation was cut off by a kiss from Farah, and Amanda laughed softly, nodding and typing in the name of the town, starting to look through the images. Gripps helped Hobbs fix everyone a drink, and Martin stood beside her, a protector from it all. Vogel leaned against her side, staring at the images.   
"That one's garden's a mess Boss!" He pointed at the phone, and she laughed and shook her head, continuing to search.

"Get away from me!" came a shout from the cell, and Amanda looked around.  
"Cross, come back here."  
"Was just seeing if he knew anything!" Cross yelled in response, coming to flop down beside her, closing his eyes. Gripps had found a map of the local area, and was discussing it with Hobbs.

Amanda could feel her eyes starting to itch from staring at the screen as she followed each street in turn. The town of Belleville wasn't particularly big, a population of five thousand, but it had been bigger a few years before and a number of empty houses still stood, increasing the area she had to search.  
"Need me to take any of that stress?" Martin offered, his hands resting on her shoulders.  
"I'm okay," she smiled. "Go help Gripps with that map." She could tell he was worried, even if she couldn't smell emotions the way the Rowdies did. After a few seconds he sighed and peeled away to walk over to Gripps, leaving her and Vogel to continue their task.

She was beginning to get frantic, wondering what would happen if she had somehow seen wrong, if her vision hadn't been leading here at all. She needed to find her brother fast. He was already a werewolf, and that was when she had only left him unsupervised for a couple of hours. Who knew the effect longer could have.

"What about that one boss?" Vogel asked, pointing at a house set back from a sideroad, towards the edge of town. She zoomed in and nodded.  
"Guys, I've found it."

 

Farah kissed Tina gently, before coming over to have a look at the house she had identified, Hobbs joining them to look it over.  
"Do you want me to contact the police in Belleville?"   
"It;s probably not a good idea," Farah answered. "I don't think we should get the police involved with Blackwing. I think they're only going to give us more people to protect." She paused, turning to Martin, who was sat beside Amanda, staring at the house on the screen as though looking would suddenly explain something he had missed before. It didn't seem to be working. "You've been a werewolf for a while, I need to know everything you know about what the are capable of."

Amanda listened as Martin laid out the nature of their curse, of the heightened senses it brought - at all times, but most of all at the moon. How it tangled with their existing powers, and how Priest differed, how he was able to change.  
"I just remembered!" a sudden shout from the cell made her jump, and she headed in to see what it was that had got Friedkin excited this time. Martin followed close behind. Friedkin grinned at her before glaring at the man who stood beside her. "Miss Brotzmann, after like, all this wolf mess is sorted you need to go South East. There's a project you'll find in a week or two who might help you bring down Blackwing."  
"Do you know their name?"  
"No?" Friedkin shrugged. "Like, I didn't read the files and anyway in Blackwing we didn't really use real names we used Project names because they're, like, cooler,"  
"So what can they do?" Amanda asked, resting a hand on Martin's shoulder to make sure he didn't try and punch the prisoner through the bars.  
"Uh, I can't remember? I just know like, it'd be useful. It's like... uh, telepathy? But not telepathy. It's like, telepathy for objects not people."  
"You sayin' that project can read the mind of a brick?" Martin asked with a snort. "Wow, probably'll get along wi' you then."

Friedkin glared, staring at Martin in annoyance. "Can you like, not? I'm literally trying to help you?"

***

Bart knocked on the door of the base, her hand pausing against the wood. She felt a little strange, her mind telling her that she needed to get away, go back to Blackwing. She was meant to kill Ken, but Ken was her friend. None of that was important. Not right now. She was allowed a break, to leave the dark room and go and be useful, and the universe telling her she should do other things wasn't the point. Ken had sent her on a job, which would be fun. She was going to meet Priest, and that meant good things. The door opened, and she smiled as she saw Priest standing there.  
"Hey Bart," he greeted her. She smiled at him.  
"Hey Mistah Priest. Can we go for ice cream?"  
"Later darlin', come in." 

She walked in, frowning when she saw a man sat on the sofa. He looked familiar. Not in the way targets did, but in a way that was different. She paused.  
"Hey?" she asked softly, walking towards him. "Uh... you're Dirk's Ken guy?"  
"I what?"  
"You're Dirk's Ken guy!" Bart insisted, sitting down beside him. "Priest, can we take him for ice-cream too?" She paused. "His shoulder's hurt?" She poked the wound, and when the Ken-guy went ouch she grinned at working it out. "Did you make him a dog too?"  
"A wolf," Priest told her.

"Yeah but he's not.... he's not like us. Like people are people and we're... like he's a dog if you're a wolf or I'm a piranha. He’s like Ken’s dog,” she frowned, looking at the Ken guy. "Are you a dog?"  
"I'm... really not enjoying being kidnapped by Blackwing," the Ken-guy answered. Priest hit him, and he went ouch again. She frowned a little, then paused. "You didn't say if he could have ice cream?"  
"We'll bring him some back when we're done here. His friends will be looking for him."

"I get that," she agreed. She remembered missing Ken when he'd been lost. Dirk would be looking for this one. Priest rolled his eyes, frowning slightly.  
"Are you okay?" she asked. "Your face went scrunchy."  
"My face didn't go scrunchy," the Ken guy argued, and Priest snorted slightly.  
"It did," he agreed. "But yeah, Bart, I was just explaining to him how Svlad ruined his whole life because he wanted to feel special, wanted a friend. And those friends might be coming. So if they get here, I want you to help get rid of them. You said you wanted to kill Dirk Gently, this is your chance."

Bart nodded, watching the two of them, and then turning to Todd.  
"Can you braid hair?"  
"What?"  
"Can you braid hair?" she asked again, preparing to poke him. He yelped in anticipation and nodded. She grinned, settling down against him.   
"Can you uncuff me?"  
Priest shrugged, swapping out the handcuffs for a restraint around his ankle. Bart grinned at the Ken guy.   
"Is he going to come back to Blackwing? It's lonely there."  
"Sure. After his friends are got rid of and we've had ice cream."

Bart giggled happily when Priest laughed.


	7. A Dog's Dinner

Farah glanced down at the map spread in front of her once again, glancing across the table at the others.   
"I don't like this idea," she said out loud. "There's a lot that potentially could go wrong."  
"Always is," Martin answered in his Southern drawl, lips twitching slightly in a smile.

"That like, really isn't gonna like, make people feel better?" came Friedkin's voice from within the cell. Farah tried to block him out. She could only handle so many issues at once, and right now Friedkin and the fact he was a werewolf was towards the bottom of her priority list.

"We need to surprise them," she repeated to the room as a whole. Dirk was playing with Mona, tossing the clown doll from hand to hand, and Hobbs appeared to be the only one listening. "And I think I know how we can do it, but it means that really I can only take one or two of the werewolves with me, depending on the role Mona wants to play."

Mona turned human in the space of a heartbeat, crashing to the ground at Dirk's feet.  
"I want to help Todd," she said simply. "Todd helped me."

"We'll find a way," Farah promised, before turning to Martin. "I just need to test something, would you be willing to come outside?"  
With a shrug and a smirk, Martin walked with her out of the agency, leaving the rest behind. As the door swung closed behind them, Farah saw Tina shrug. She turned towards Martin.  
"We need to find a way to stop him."  
"You think you got one?" Martin asked, curiously. She nodded.  
"Show it to me then, girl."

***

Todd was utterly exhausted. If he had been asked before today, he would have laughed at the idea that being kidnapped could be tiring, that being held captive would shatter you - but now he could understand why sometimes Dirk slept like the dead even with all the nightmares that haunted him. His chest ached from where he'd been kicked, his shoulder hurt from the bite, and his leg was twisted strangely from the angle he had been forced to sit. And yet he was getting off lightly. The man who had him as a prisoner was using him as bait, and that allowed him to pass almost unseen by him.

Bart at least acknowledged he was there, but even she wasn't hurting him, more playing with him as she got him to fix her hair and make a fuss over her. It was clear she was missing the attention.

Todd finished braiding her hair for the second time, grateful for the practice he had gotten when Amanda was little. He got the feeling that Bart might not react well to her hair being pulled.  
"So you're like, Dirk's Ken guy?" she asked him now, flopped against him in a way that would have felt intimate with anyone else, but she seemed to just want to be held. He considered, then nodded.  
"What you doing away from Dirk then? Dirk needs you."  
"I know," Todd mumbled. "I'm not here by choice. I thought you were free from Blackwing."  
"Ken brought me in," she answered, glancing towards Priest. "He said he'd made Blackwing better but it's not great. Like I get to go and kill people sometimes but not all the time and there's no one to talk to most of the time I'm just in my room and Ken says I'm not allowed out."

Todd frowned at her. That didn't sound good. "What do you do then?"  
"Sit there mostly. Sometimes scientists come and see me but the tests are really boring and they can't even do the tests to see what doesn't kill me because... because Ken says there's no point keep trying and stuff..." she trailed off, glancing at Priest who shrugged.

"They gave you a few poisons to try last week Bart, don't complain."

"They didn't do nothing though," Bart muttered, and she nudged her head against Todd's hand. He sighed and went back to petting her as Priest cleaned a gun in the corner. "Ken don't even put my light on most of the time. It's so boring..." she whined, and Todd looked at her. Really looked at her, and he could see that she was suffering in her own way. Locked in a dark room with nothing to do - for all he knew that Dirk and Bart were very different, he couldn't help thinking about how poorly Dirk would respond to being trapped like that.  
"You don't have to stay the-" Todd decided very quickly to abandon that particular thread of conversation when a knife blade was pressed to his neck, Priest leaning over him.  
"You know boy, bait works just as well dead as alive."  
Todd tried to nod without moving his head.

"Bart, come help me with this stuff, stop wasting your time with him," Priest ordered, and Bart stood up, patting Todd on the head and then leaning in and kissing his forehead.  
"I'll come back an' talk later okay?" She grinned, waved, and skipped over to Todd's captor. Todd paused slightly, staring at the chain around his ankle and wishing he'd got round to asking Farah to teach him to pick locks.

***

"Amanda, do you want to come with us?" Farah asked, glancing around at the group she had assembled - Hobbs, Tina, Martin and Mona. Amanda knew that this was basically the reserve team from the earlier attack.

"I should go," Dirk insisted. "He's my boyfriend."  
"Ossie's my problem," Martin snarled, his voice low. "Anyway, what Miss Black's got planned means they can only take one wolf."  
"I'm one wolf-" Dirk protested. "And the CIA trained me to fight."  
Martin raised an eyebrow, but Farah spoke over him.  
"Look, Dirk, we both know what you got like in the Cardenas house. We can't risk that happening again. If you freeze up, we’ll have two people to rescue, and it'll just slow us down."   
"So I'm meant to just wait?"  
"Yes," Farah said softly. "You wait here, with Gripps and Friedkin-"  
"I can go!" came a shout from the cells. Farah brought her fingertips up to her forehead, massaging the skin there.  
"You're a werewolf as well, Friedkin. You can't go."  
"Oh yeah!" Friedkin conceded, and Farah sighed. "Cross is going to drive the getaway van. Beast and Vogel are going to create a distraction outside, see if they can draw out any of the other guards. You are going to be here where it's safe."  
"Where Blackwing can't get you," Martin added. "He's using your boy as bait. He's trying to draw you in, and you showing up just gives the asshole what he wants. You stay here. Anyway, if it all goes to hell you're leading the second wave of rescue."

Dirk's eyes slid from Gripps towards the cells, and he arched an eyebrow but nodded. Martin patted him on the back.  
"Don't worry. You'll get your boy back. You coming Drummer?"  
"Todd wouldn't want me involved," she said with a grin, stepping forwards. "I'm in."

Martin laughed, slapping her on the shoulder, and Farah smiled at Hobbs and kissed Tina's cheek. "We're going to do this. We can incapacitate Priest, and from there things should be a bit easier. Just need to get Todd out, and go from there. Hobbs, when we're travelling from there, you and Tina are in the back working on any medical issues that might arise, alright?"  
Hobbs nodded, his eyes shining with pride, as Tina did a shy dance of joy. Farah took a deep breath, and nodded.  
"Let's go get him back."

***

Tina was pretty sure she had the most badass girlfriend imaginable. She was just hoping that this day wouldn't result in anyone getting shot, because she'd already done that once and that had hurt. And meant she had bullet wound scars. Admittedly Farah didn't seem to mind the scars, so things could be worse. And they were a reminder of a pretty cool adventure, she just didn't want to add any to that particular collection if she could possibly avoid it.  
"Tina," Hobbs leaned over and squeezed her shoulder. "Are you alright? You look distracted."  
"Just... weirded out about all this werewolf stuff," she admitted. "I mean, like, the Cardenas funhouse is weird but it's not... this is like out of legends and stuff. And I don't know. It feels..." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly, not knowing what she could say. Hobbs cuddled her for a moment.   
"You can stay in the car Tina," he offered.   
She shook her head.  
"No, it's alright, I'll provide backup. If nothing else, being near Farah is the safest place to be."  
Amanda laughed, leaning back to high-five her, and Tina grinned.  
"So, Amanda, you and them a thing?" she teased, and then yelped as Beast jumped onto her, cuddling her. After a moment she patted her back, and Beast trilled in delight.

"We are," Amanda answered. "Todd knows, he's not happy about it but he knows. And they've all got this empathy thing going on," She shrugged. "It's pretty annoying at points, when you're trying to say you're fine and they can tell you're not."  
"Shouldn't lie to us then Drummer," Martin answered from the front seat, and Amanda rolled her eyes.  
Tina couldn't help laughing at that, and the look on Amanda's face in response. It was clear that the two of them cared about each other a lot, but that didn't make moments like this any less funny.

Hobbs cleared his throat slightly.  
"Just so I know, how often should Tina and I be expecting to get caught up in this kind of thing?" His voice sounded a little hesitant, so Tina leaned over and squeezed his shoulder.  
"No idea," Farah answered. "Possibly a lot, you share a town with a Blackwing base."  
"Those guys aren't a problem," Tina reassured her, and saw Farah arching her eyebrow in the mirror. Tina shrugged, and stared out of the road. "So, you going to explain your big plan to us now?"

***

The Dirk's Ken-guy guy was moping on the couch. Bart went over to him, prodding him in the arm until he sat up, letting her sit beside him. She grinned at him.  
"You're my friend right?" she asked hopefully, and he nodded, a smile on his face that was a lot more real than the one Susie Borton did. 

"We're gonna have fun together!" she promised. It would be good to have a friend that lived on base with her, that had time to talk to her and stuff. Ken didn't ever have time for her now. And if Dirk's Ken guy was with Blackwing, then Dirk might come to Blackwing, and then she'd have three friends. She didn't think she'd ever had more than one friend at once before, unless you counted Priest. She still wasn't sure if he was her friend. Probably all she deserved. She'd had better once, and she'd ruined it.

"I'm hungry," she told the room at large, and Priest reached over, pulling out a bag of chips and throwing them to her.  
"Thanks," she muttered, opening the chips and holding them out to the Ken-guy. When he didn't take them she rattled them under his nose, until he gave in and helped himself to a handful. She had to take care of her friends. Ken hadn't liked it when the hadn't eaten when travelling, because he wasn't like her. He wasn't unstoppable. The Ken-guy gave her a slight smile as he ate his chips, and she grinned at him.  
"'s just some chips," she muttered, trying to hide her smile in case he was going to yell at her. He didn't seem to want to yell though, just to eat his chips. She was happy to let him do that.

She was watching Priest playing with a gun when he suddenly toppled forwards to the ground, his hands lifting to his head. The Ken-guy did the same thing, his hands clenched around his ears, pulling so hard it looked like he was trying to pull them off. She sat there between them, wondering what was happening and if she should join in. There was a lot of noise from outside which she ignored because it didn’t feel important.

Then the door opened, and a bunch of people walked in. There was no one there she needed to kill, so she mostly ignored them as one with a gun, the one who had stabbed her, went to stand near Priest. Bart glared, because that had _hurt_ and that woman had stopped her killing people for no reason. The woman ignored her.

One of Incubus stepped forwards. He had weird things on his head, over his ears, like the headphones she sometimes had to wear when she slept. She didn't like wearing those headphones, because when she wore them she dreamed of who she had to kill and sometimes the names didn't match what the universe wanted. But Incubus didn't seem to mind. He went over to Priest and started feeding on him. Bart watched without interfering as the Ken-guy was picked up and pulled away. He was still in pain, clutching at his ears, screaming loudly. Then the woman with the knife, who didn't have a knife right now, did something in her pocket and he went quiet. Bart stared, trying to work out if she had just switched him off. But he was still breathing.

He took a few shuddering breaths, then held his hand out, visibly unsteady.  
"Come with us Bart. Dirk's going to want to see you."

She got up and walked over, holding out her arms so she caught him as he fell over, then carefully lowered him to the ground. The police officer man and the lady from the station walked over to her.  
"We have to take him," the man told her, and she nodded.  
"You could come too, if you want?" the woman offered, and Bart risked a glance at the stabby lady. The stabby lady didn't say anything, so that meant this was her chance. She could tell the universe wanted her to go and that's what finally drove her to step towards them.

***

Dirk was walking in circles around the police station, trying to multiply three digit numbers in his head in the hope it would stop him from worrying. It wasn't working, and apparently he was getting it wrong - Gripps would call out some numbers and then he'd answer and Gripps would correct him. It was odd, he'd never really imagined that he would be playing math games with one of the Rowdies, and yet here he was. 

"Why are you doing that?" came Friedkin's voice from the cells, and it was all that Dirk could do not to go over and scream at him at the top of his lungs. "I don't get why you're doing math. It's not going to get your boyfriend back."  
"I know that," Dirk snarled at him. "I am very aware that there is absolutely nothing that I can do here that will make the least difference to whether or not I am able to get my boyfriend away from Blackwing, but what it will do is distract me so that I don't end up killing the nearest member of Blackwing staff that I can find, which just so happens to be you, so if you like being alive I would recommend that you are quiet about it."

"Not particularly?" Friedkin answered. "I mean, I don't even think I am alive, but..." He fell quiet when Dirk glared at him, deciding that he possibly wasn't in the mood to talk about existential type stuff. Dirk continued to pace.

When he heard the steady rumble of a familiar van, Dirk's heart leapt slightly. He wasn't quite sure when it had changed, when the van had gone from filling him with terror to giving him a sense of hope, but he was grateful for that now. He ran down the stairs to where the van was waiting, the back door opening. Vogel and Beast jumped out, but for once both had the sense to stay out of his way rather than hemming him in.

Inside the van he could see Hobbs and Tina crouched by a familiar figure, and he jumped up, racing straight over to Todd. Todd grinned up at him, and Dirk could see the thick layer of bandages and dressings which covered his throat and shoulder where he had been bitten. He reached for Todd's hands, squeezing them gently.  
"I'm sorry. Farah wouldn't let me go."   
"Martin said. 'S okay, just want you safe," Todd murmured, and then Martin had removed his headphones, which promptly turned into Mona. She cuddled Dirk.  
"I helped!" she told him, and he grinned.  
"You did a great job I'm sure," he promised her, pointing to Todd. "You got him back."

"Yeah, we did," Martin agreed, reaching out to rest a hand on Dirk's shoulder. "I'm sorry kid, couldn't kill him. He's knocked out and he'll hopefully steer clear for a bit, but when I tried the universe didn't want it."  
"Thank you for getting Todd back."  
"You need'im," came a familiar voice, and Dirk looked up to see that Bart was sat there, half-hidden behind Martin and Amanda. "He's your guy, you should have him with you. He said I could come." That last phrase was almost defensive, as though she expected him to throw her out. Dirk made himself smile.  
"You're always welcome here Bart, long as you don't kill my friends."  
"I don't wanna kill no one anymore," she muttered, then smiled nervously. "Only, on the way back here we was talking, and I don't know if yer agency's the right place for me. Sounds boring, just sitting ‘round all day, waiting for trouble to come to me." She glanced over at Amanda. "Think I'm gonna go somewhere where I can go looking for trouble. And if there ain't trouble, then we can make it."

"You… sure about that?" Todd asked from the floor, and Amanda grinned and nodded.  
"She'll fit right in," Amanda agreed. "But we're going to be sticking around for a bit I think. I want to see what Todd's like as a werewolf."

Dirk laughed slightly, helping Todd up onto his feet and walking with him to the station. Bart hurried in ahead, and by the time Todd was helped to a seat Friedkin had walked over.  
"How did you?" Dirk asked, before glancing at Bart and sighing. She shrugged.  
"Universe."

Dirk sighed but let the matter drop.

"Incu-Rowdies," Friedkin started, seeming to realise he had to change the name before he was attacked by Martin. "You need to head off East and South, like once the next full moon is over. There's something in Texas you'll need to get to, but they aren't like, there yet? When you get there they will be? And you guys are like, you're doing a good job. You're fixing stuff." He did a thumbs up which Amanda snorted at, and Dirk laughed a little, hugging Todd.  
"This mean you guys are going?" Hobbs asked, visibly disappointed.  
"We can stay a couple more days," Dirk promised. "I still haven't had my ice cream."  
Bart looked up hopefully.  
“We’re getting ice cream?”


	8. Pack Means Family

Dirk felt surprisingly nervous, fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket and watching Mona carefully - she was currently a clock in the shape of a dog. He looked away as Hobbs brought out yet another pizza from the oven, handing this one to the Rowdies. Amanda grinned and shoved a piece in her mouth, before passing it on to the rest of them. 

Farah was sat on the sofa, sharing bites of pizza with Tina who apparently had adjusted surprisingly well to the whole werewolf thing, and Todd was helping Hobbs with the pizzas. Dirk reminded himself he was surrounded by everyone he loved in the world, that nothing bad would happen to him while he was safe here. But there was still an anxiety gnawing away at his gut.

Tonight was the night of the full moon. The first full moon since Priest had attacked them, which meant this would be the first full moon where Todd transformed, and while he was trying to be calm about it Dirk didn't think he'd ever feel calm again. There was just so much that could go wrong, and he didn't want Todd hurt. He knew his own first transformation had been frightening.

Todd was surrounded by friends, and in a way that was a comfort, but he couldn't help worrying. Martin snorted over at him.  
"You're worrying too much boy, can smell it from here."  
"It's really rather a concerning prospect to see my boyfriend turn into a werewolf as not only does this represent my utter failure to take care of him, but it also means that he is about to lose control of his faculties at a point where my adoptive father, business partner, her girlfriend, and his little sister are within reach. Bart of course is immune but that doesn't mean she can't manage to produce her own kind of trouble."

There was a faint noise from the kitchen, as Hobbs dropped something or other.

"Dirk." Farah untangled herself from Tina, and walked over, holding out a small box. "We know that this alarm works on werewolves even when you're in human form. If anyone threatens any of us, we will use it, and I have rooms organised as backup. And Bart and I have an understanding. You don't need to worry. I know you like worrying, and I know you're good at it. But you don't need to."

Dirk nodded slowly, and Amanda wandered over and hugged him gently. Her top had "It's all fun and games until someone looks at the moon" across it.  
"Where did you even get that?" Dirk asked.   
"Thrifting. Local stores are great. I wanted one that said "Not a werewolf" or "Alpha" but the boys liked this one."  
"'s always fun and games with us boss," Vogel yelled from where he was crouched on the floor gnawing on a pizza crust.

Dirk nodded, cuddling her for a moment.  
"Thanks for being here."  
"It's okay Dirk. Honestly, you're worrying more than he is."  
"That's because I know what to expect," Dirk argued, jumping slightly as there was a loud thump from behind him. Todd walked over to Mona, picking her up and snorting.  
"What is it?" Dirk called curiously.

Todd held up a dog collar.   
"Apparently she can spell Amanda's name right. That's two whole letters more than mine-" he muttered, and Amanda glanced at Dirk curiously.  
"She tried to spell Todd first with one D, and then with the D in the wrong place," Dirk clarified. "Last month. Not that anyone holds a grudge."  
"She called me Tdod," Todd whined, before walking over and holding out the collar to Dirk, who took it gently.  
 _Dirk!_ Said one side of the collar, with a smiley face drawn below. Turning it over, he saw _My friend is Todd. If found please return to Amanda_

"Why Amanda?" Dirk asked curiously, frowning down at the collar.  
The writing changed briefly before flicking back to the message.  
 _Farah is too busy smooching Tina to keep an eye on you._  
"Well you're quite right there," Dirk agreed, smiling at Todd. "If you wouldn't mind helping me?" He held out the collar, letting Todd fasten it around his throat, leaning in to kiss him softly.

Amanda laughed and threw a cushion at them.

***

It was a relief, seeing her brother happy. Dirk was clearly frantic about how tonight would go, but given that he was both prone to worry and likely to misjudge situations, Amanda was more interested in how the others were reacting. They all seemed calm at least. They saw nothing to worry about and so nor did she. Trusting the Rowdies came easily to her, and it hadn't steered her wrong so far. 

She reached over to where Tina and Farah were cuddling, stealing a slice of their pizza whilst they were otherwise occupied. She grinned at Hobbs, who smiled and returned to the kitchen, and she could smell bacon. Bacon rolls for the humans (and Beast), and the boys would have raw bacon if they got hungry. She'd bought some dog treats a few days ago, which she had kept hidden, wanting to see how they'd react. 

Her camera was in reach, and she was looking forwards to taking photographs again.  
"Hey, Drummer." Martin leaned over, resting his hand on her knee and squeezing. "You better take your meds tonight. We won't be able to pull you out if an attack comes."  
Amanda nodded, opening the bottle, not bothering with the argument that actually they did help her when attacks came, even in this form. 

Last month, she had forgotten to take tablets, and an attack had hit. They had all surrounded her, cuddling her and licking at her face and whining until she calmed, Beast and Gripps searching through her bags for the tablets before running back to her when she had screamed again. It had been the first attack she'd suffered since she joined them. But they were there, they helped.  
"Dirk, you're making me worry," she told him, and he smiled nervously.  
"Incubu-The Rowdies always seemed like they were quite loud on Full Moon nights,"  
"We are," Martin agreed, and Todd nodded, hugging him again, his words only just audible.  
"They are. But they're our family."

Dirk smiled fondly, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

"What the hell guys," Farah called out, her voice sounding almost frantic. Amanda glanced up to see that all four of her Rowdies were in the process of undressing - Martin was unbuttoning his shirt, Cross and Gripps were down to their boxers, and Vogel was already naked.  
"Don't want to ruin good clothes," Martin answered, and Tina wolf whistled as Farah glared disapprovingly, before collapsing back in her chair with her eyes closed.  
"I am too gay for this," Farah whispered, and Tina giggled softly before leaning in for another kiss.

Amanda rolled her eyes, but let the Rowdies get ready however they wanted. It made sense not to ruin their clothes if they could avoid it. But it was more than that. This was them putting aside the last vestiges of society. Dirk carefully removed his jacket, choosing to sacrifice the rest of his clothing in the name of dignity, and Todd shrugged, staying dressed.  
"You guys can use the cells if you want?" Hobbs suggested. "They're empty tonight."

The two of them ran off, and Amanda laughed, picking up her camera as the change took affect, and Vogel celebrated by spending almost a minute trying to chase his own tail, before Martin jumped on top of him, the other two Rowdies pinning him down with their paws as Martin seized the scruff of his neck in his jaws, and tugged hard. Vogel howled in pain, but a moment later he was being nuzzled by all of them. Amanda made her way over, cuddling Vogel to her chest, just as two smaller wolves slipped back in, one still wearing a white leather collar.  
"You're ours, Vogel," she told him, speaking for Martin who couldn't. Vogel's tail wagged from side to side, before he bounded off to play with Bart. 

Dirk was nudging Todd closer. She reached out, patting her brother's fur, seeing how it looked a little softer than the Rowdies, his form smaller and slightly gentler, looking closer to a dog than the Rowdy pack.  
"You look cuter like this," she told him. "Less trouble." He drew his lips back in an attempted snarl, but she ignored it, as Tina walked over to pat Dirk, making his tail wag enthusiastically.

Morning would find them all lying together, a tangle of limbs, until Farah realised quite how many naked men she was surrounded by and ordered them to put on pants before snuggling resumed.


End file.
